Movement For use with WJEC Performing Arts GCSE Unit 1 and Unit 3 Task 1

Pace of Movement Choose one of your scenes that has the most movement. Rehearse with limited movement from all actors, except one, who will move around. Rehearse the scene with different people moving and keeping still. Decide on the pace of the scene and how much movement there is from each character.

Key Words Groups of 4. Restaurant scenario Each person has a prop within the scene and a word relating to the scene, e.g. one learner has a menu, one has water etc. You must begin improvising but only enter or exit when you say your key word or another character does so. The object of the task is to find a reason for entering or exiting the scene so your movement can be justified.

Park bench scene Your teacher will set up two chairs in the centre of the stage as a park bench. Half the class get a number and line up ready to enter the stage; the remaining learners are to be the audience. Each learner will have a purpose for entering the scene, e.g. meeting a long- lost friend who is late and you are waiting for them.

Larger than Life In groups, rehearse your scene but overplay and exaggerate the movements and emotions so that they are really clear.

Changing Movement Move around the space neutrally. When the location is changed, you need to change your movement accordingly to suggest the location. Examples could be places such as a dense crowd of people, the Arctic in a blizzard, the jungle, a scary dark alleyway at night. Now try it using different speeds, in different directions and with different body positions.

Emotions Work with a partner. One partner walks around the space but must convey an emotion through use of movement. The other partner must try to guess what mood or emotion is being communicated by the way in which they move around the space.

Posture Individually choose key scenes for your character from the play. Pick 3 key points in the story and experiment with the character's posture at those points.

Non-verbal communication Pick an important scene in terms of movement. Rehearse the scene silently, focusing on movement and gestures to communicate meaning.

Extension Activities available in the Teacher Notes